[Bob MacP]

I have all my photos and documents on an external hard drive. Recently I purchased a refurbished computer on trade in. I connected the ext hd to the usb port, but the comp is not recognizing it. I have no other back up of it's contents.

Thanks
Bob macP

 

[sobeit]

if your device manager sees it, try going into disk management and if it sees it there but no drive letter, try assigning a drive letter.

 

[Bob MacP]

Thanks for your reply Sobeit. Where do I find "disk management?"

Bob MacP

 

[Markgg88]

I'm going by the assumption that you have windows XP as written below your user name. Below is the instructions on how to open disk management, taken from Microsoft website.

How to use Disk Management
To start Disk Management:
Log on as administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.
Click Start, click Run, type compmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
In the console tree, click Disk Management. The Disk Management window appears. Your disks and volumes appear in a graphical view and list view. To customize how you view your disks and volumes in the upper and lower panes of the window, point to Top or Bottom on the View menu, and then click the view that you want to use.

 

[Bob MacP]

I found "disk management", but nothing there that that looks like a drive to be able to assign a letter to

 

[johnny333]

Have you tried a different usb thing to see if usb port is working? Is it a external HD or a HD you put in a external case? Did the external work on your old PC? If it is a HD you put in a external case you could try put directly on your MB. Does you external HD case have it's own power supply?
Good Luck and God Bless Johnny333

 

[christovn]

Hi sometimes you just have to check if the hard disk runs, if it runs check if it is set to slave, Maybe plug it into a different pc, at least then you can determine if it is you pc or if it is your hdd. Try connecting the hdd directly into you system .

Good luck. Had the same problem once

 

[sobeit]

I found "disk management", but nothing there that that looks like a drive to be able to assign a letter to

If you see the drive in the right column without a letter, just right click it.

 

[Bob MacP]

Thanks everyone Nothing on the right except the "c" drive. The ext HD appears to be OK. The Green light is on and swith is in "on" position. Connected to USB port. Worked fine on the old comp.

 

[JimE]

Test the drive on another PC. That will at least determine if it's a PC or drive issue.

As for Disk Management. If the ext drive isn't listed, then it is very likely faulty.